Philosophy Cup Rules & Information
The Runshaw Philosophy Cup is a philosophical competition for local schools on presentations and discussions of philosophical issues. It is based on the national ethics cup competition for which Runshaw are currently two-time regional champions. The competition is open to students of years 11-7 however it is aimed more at years 11-9. The competition is based on a series of cases which discuss philosophical issues covered on the A Level Philosophy and RS courses at the college. These cases can be downloaded below. Please contact Sam Collins if you are interested in taking part.
Schedule for the day
Event: Thursday 21st May. You will need to arrive at Runshaw by 9:30am, please contact Stuart Dolman here if you need help with transport.
- 9:30-10:00 arrival and welcome information
- 10:00-12:00 two group stage matches
- 12:00-12:50 lunch on campus will be provided (Teams which have not reached the final may leave or watch the final match)
- 12:50-13:00 announcing teams who have qualified for the final
- 13:00-14:00 final match and trophy awarded
Tournament Format
Each team will have two group stage matches against other schools. Which cases are used for each match will be shared on the morning of the day itself but they will from the six cases in the case set. They will be scored by judges in a league format. Judges will be a range of Philosophy students and staff. The two teams with the highest scores will go through to the final.
In the final each judge will vote for a winner. The winning team is the team with the most number of votes (2 or 3), not the team with the most number of points.
Each school can bring 10 students in total for their squad although a maximum of five will be able to participate on their team in any given match.
Match Format
Matches feature two teams meeting face-to-face. Each team must be composed of three to five members. Timekeepers run the room. They keep time and move the match through its various components while ensuring that all participants and spectators comply with the rules.
To open the first half of the match, copies of the first case (chosen from the case set) and question will be distributed to the judges and teams. Each school will need to choose a maximum of five students to take part on the first case and should now be seated for each team without any notes. You will however have pens and paper to hand. The timekeeper will then read the case title and questions.
Team A will have two minutes to confer and make any notes needed. Then any members of Team A may speak for up to five minutes (total) laying out the Team’s view regarding the case questions. This is known as the Presentation Period.
Next, Team B will have up to two minutes to confer, after which Team B may speak for up to two minutes in response to Team A’s presentation. This is known as the Commentary Period. Team A will then have up to two minutes to confer, followed by two minutes to respond to the commentary of team B. This is known as the Response Period.
The judges will then begin a six-minute question and answer session with Team A. Before asking questions, the judges may confer briefly. Each judge should have time for at least one question and may ask more questions if time permits. Any team member may respond to each question however the timekeeper may intervene if your response to a single question exceeds three minutes. This is known as the Dialogue Period. Judges then evaluate the Presentation, response, and dialogue by Team A and the Commentary by Team B, and assess the teams based on the scoring rubric.
After the judges have made their scoring decisions, the moderator will read the second case (a different case from the case set) title and questions to the same two teams, beginning the second half of the match. Teams may now switch members if needed but still need a maximum of five members in their team for this case.
The match will proceed, as above, with Teams A and B switching roles. The judges will then assign scores to each Team’s performance once again, following the scoring rubric. Thus, in each match, each team will have the opportunity to present one case and to respond to the other team’s presentation of another case.
At the end of the match, the timekeeper will ask all the judges to individually announce the number of points they awarded to each team, along with a brief explanation of how they arrived at their judgment. If it is the final, the timekeeper will then announce the result of the match. See below Scorecard for how the scoring works.
Match Content
The presentation stage – This should be an explanation of the group’s view on the three questions of the case. You should agree a position (which may be difficult!) in advance. You should clearly give your viewpoints on the case whilst also considering why people might disagree but why you do not agree with them. You cannot bring notes so must be able to talk from memory.
The commentary stage– You should commentate on the presentation of the opposing team. Which points/arguments did you think were strong, which arguments do you think could be improved and how. Are there any aspects of the case they have not thought about. You should raise questions which the other team can then answer in their response.
The response stage – The presenting team will respond to the commentary given by the commentating team. Responding to questions and points raised. They may further clarify or even modify their position in light of the arguments given.
The dialogue stage– Here the presenting team are answering questions from the judges on what they have said. Further explaining their reasoning and defending their position.
Preparation Tips
- You can only have a maximum of ten students on your squad so you may need to have some kind of selection process if more than 10 are interested.
- Once you have your team you will need to figure out who will present or commentate on which of the cases. Because we will tell you which case is used in which match and because you can switch members for the second half of the match you can have certain students specialising in certain cases. Or you may prefer simply to have all students looking at all cases.
- You will probably need to give students some help in thinking about what they will argue for each case and why. Also in considering the opposing side of the argument.
- It is important that team members do not contradict or repeat each other and so they need to have agreed clearly what they will argue for each question of the cases.
- Students may want to write a script for the presentation however they will not be able to use it in the actual matches and will need to talk from memory.
- Beyond the presentation phase students will have to respond off the top of their heads to both the other team’s comments and the judge’s questions so it is useful to practice this in advance.
- It is important that all students understand how the matches work and what they need to do for each of the different parts of the match.
- Having at least some practice matches or parts of matches is useful for practicing what teams will argue and getting to grips with how matches work.
See this website for further resources for the similar ethics cup competition.